Not really…I just liked all the ‘B’s all in a row. At any rate, we have some HUGE butterflys around here and they love this set of yellow bushes out in the front. I stood in the middle and just started snapping. These things are gigantic. I could actually hear the wings flapping in the air as they flew by.

As I was driving around in rural Texas a few days ago, I saw a gorgeous brown field with newly made round bales of hay scattered in it. I quickly pulled the car off the road, grabbed the camera and made my way across traffic, through the scrub and up onto some railroad tracks to snap what I thought was going to be a few great pictures. These shots were, to say the least, a disappointment. As I stood there, lamenting the heat, the poor shots and the trek through the brush to get them, I glanced up and down the railroad tracks and was immediately reminded of the beginning of ‘The Dharma Bums” where Ray Smith rides the rails, hobo style, all along the west coast, from Mexico to San Francisco.

I love Jack Kerouac book ‘The Dharma Bums‘! The Dharma Bums stands as one of Kerouac’s most powerful, influential, and bestselling novels. The story focuses on two untrammeled young Americans—mountaineer, poet, and Zen Buddhist Japhy Ryder and Ray Smith, a zestful, innocent writer—whose quest for Truth leads them on a heroic odyssey, from hobo train rides up and down the West coast, marathon parties and poetry jam sessions in San Francisco’s Bohemia to solitude and mountain climbing in the High Sierras to Ray’s sixty-day vigil by himself atop Desolation Peak in Washington State. I’ve read this book several times throughout my life and, while I question Kerouac’s understanding of Buddhism, at least as he portrayed it in the book, I have come to love the story.

So I became fascinated with trying to capture that feeling in some pictures of the tracks.

On fathers day, I went to the zoo to take some pictures and I thought I’d share some of the shots and some of the things I have learned about ‘zoo shooting’ that might help you get some great shots at your local zoo.

TIMING

The first tip is the time of day you go. The San Antonio Zoo offers early entrance (7:30) to zoo members and I take full advantage of it. I go early in the morning for a couple of reasons. First and foremost for me, this is South Texas and it gets really hot really fast. I don’t do well in the heat so the early start time helps keep me from melting. Second, and probably a more important reason is that the animals are more alert early in the morning. They are looking for food and expecting interaction with their keepers. This is one of those things you might want to contact your zoo about, as there are different schedules for different animals. For instance, this Cheetah has play time every afternoon and she knows it. The keeper actually teased her with her toy so I could get this shot on a previous trip.

Alert Cheetah

By the time I got around to her on this trip, she had already been fed and was just laying around relaxing.

Relaxing Cheetah

I had the same problem with the Sumatran Tiger

Sumatran Tiger

However the Spotted Hyena was still waiting on breakfast which allowed me to get this intent shot

Spotted Hyena

CAGE BARS AND WIRE

Another thing folks really hate in zoo shots is having the cage bars in the picture. Most of the time, they really detract from the story you are trying to tell. But if you’re careful, you can shoot the shot so the bars/ wire don’t show up. First get as close to the bars as you can and open the camera aperture wide open to get as much depth of field as you can. For instance:

I shot this one through wire just like you see in the back ground. Being very close with the wide open aperture makes it disappear. Some that can add problems to this is if you can’t get close to the bars/wire. At the San Antonio Zoo, there are often hedges between the shooter and the bars so you are standing back 3-4 ft from the wire. In this case you can’t get close. With a little practice, I was able to shoot using a long zoom lens, with the aperture opened wide up and get pretty much the same effect.

This one and the one after were shot about 4 ft away from the wire and about 6-7 feet away from the monkey.

And this one was shot about 7 ft away through black cage wire.

Crested Oropendola

Sometimes, however, the bars can actually add to the story, like this.

Jaguar

SHOOTING THROUGH GLASS

Another problem photographing zoo animals is shooting through glass. There are two basic issues with glass. One is dirty glass that’s smudged with finger/nose prints. I take a small container of wet wipes and, if the smudges are on the outside, simply clean them before I shoot. If they are on the inside or you don’t have wipes, the only thing I can suggest is to adjust your angle to hit a clean spot.

The other problem with shooting through glass is reflections. These become even worse if you are having to fire the flash. The key to getting these shots is to change your angle. Instead of shooting perpendicular to the glass, adjust your angle to 30-45 degrees and the reflections should diminish. This may take a little trial and error to find the right angle for the shot, but that’s the great thing about digital.

These were all shot through glass by standing at an angle to the glass.

Clouded Leopard

Jaguar

And these were shot through glass with a flash.

Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon

So do a little research, gear up and head out to your local zoo for some great photography! It’s always a blast.

I Won!!

My Novel!

What I’m Reading (*Currently Reading)

*On The Road
Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?
*Daemon
Rebel Buddha
*Life
Bossypants
*Dying With Confidence
Red
*Zen And The Art Of Archery
The Life Of Pi
Good Omens
Dharma Punx
Against The Stream
Eat, Pray, Love
Hardcore Zen
Writing Down The Bones
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse